St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-11
of the cost of territorial and municipal
government The railroad corporations are

UPON GROSS EARNINGS

UPON GROSS EARNINGS,
and the counties receive the tax. each in
proportion to the miles of railway within its
borders. This system is not likely to be
changed, but propositions will be submitted
for taxing the lands and other property of
railroads not directly employed in or neces-
Sary to the operation of the roads. Bills
Will be offered also for taxing dining and
sleeping cars, refrigerator cars, and the cars
OF fast freight lines, with view of max
ing every corporation using railroad di-
rectly tributary to the territorial or county
treasures. The favorite idea of collecting
taxes from the people through the corpora
tons operating in the territory will be
further presented in bills for more thor
oughly taxing telegraph and telephone COM
panleS, gas and water companies. insurance
companies, etc. Of course. as usual. not
one in score of such bills will be enacted;
but there will be something done in the
matter of taxing corporations. One or more
special revenue bills will be introduced, for
taxing mining corporations. This move
ment will interest the coal miners of the
northwestern part of the territory: but there
will be no misunderstanding of its object.
1t is intended for the Black Hills corpora
tons. and particularly for the Homestake
Mining company. This wealthy corpora
ton employs in its mines, smelling works
and wood camps about two thousand men.
Its attorneys and agents are masters of the
county government in all that affects
THE CoMPANY's INTERESTS,
and members Of the legislature from its
county are recognized as representatives
of the corporation. Two years ago the
farmers of Lawrence county had one rep
resentatiye in the legislature, and he tried
to have law passed which should compel
the Homestake to contribute its rightful
proportion to support the county govern
ment. He represented that the company's
attorney controlled the levy and assessment
of taxes in that )unty, and burdened the
farming interests with high assessments
and heavy taxation. He argued that this
corporation withdraws from the territory
its arle profits, is strip ng the Hill cOun-
try of its timber. and when its mines are
exhausted or their working becomes I'M
profitable, it will abandon the territory,
leaving no permanent benefit or improve
ment from its operations. This, he claimed.
increases the injustice of its escaping tax
alton according to its wealth or its produc-
ton. The bill or bills to be offered at this
session for taxing mining corporations
having the Homestake's local power in
view-will provide for the territorial board
Of equalization making the assessment and
fixing the levy. The duties and powers of
the railroad commission will be enlarged
under an act relating to grain warehouses
and elevators. All of the many bills pre-
pared by members of the legislature for
regulation of storage and grading of grain
are intended to declare grain receiving
buildings to be public warehouses, to re
quire uniform grading of grain and that the
receipts shall be negotiable. Some of them
contain clauses requiring
BONDS TO BE GIVEN
by the elevator companies and providing for
prosecutions for attractions of the law, to
be instituted against the offending company
and its bondsmen. 1t will also be proposed
that railroad companies be required to re-
ceive and store grain at stations designated
by the railroad commission.
An attempt will probably be made to give
the railroad commission authority for pros
ecuting railroad companies for neglect or
discrimination in the supply of cars or of
facilities for delivering and receiving
freight. The newspaper publishers of the
territory will ask the legislature to reduce
the legal rates of advertising to near the
average of thel charges for commercial ad-
vertising, and will also propose that the
session laws be printed in sheet form and
circulated with every paper in the territory.
The lawyers want thorough revision Of the
civil code and code of practice, but antici-
pating the objection that statehood and a
state code or codes will soon Supplant the
territorial statutes they will be content
with corrections of few bluudeIS and con-
tradictions which have been put in the
codes